More than 100 participants attended the first Wilton Park Conference in the South Caucasus. The conference began on Monday evening November 6 and concluded on Thursday evening November 9. Wilton Park, an independent research arm of the United Kingdom’s Foreign Office, is well-known for its specialized conferences year-round on a variety of political and social themes.

During the three days, speakers explored such topics as post-soviet democratization, interstate relations, the role of the major powers in the region, the economic challenges and opportunities, the region’s conflicts, as well energy security and aspirations for European integration.

Ilgar Mammadov, Director of the Baku Political Research and Advocacy Institute and George Manjgaladze, Deputy Foreign Minister of Georgia joined Minister Oskanian in the first panel, discussing “Lessons from Fifteen Years of Independence.”

The conference was opened and moderated by Roger Williamson, Program Director of Wilton Park. Minister Oskanian’s opening remarks are presented below:

We are pleased and proud to be hosting the first Wilton Park conference in the Caucasus. This is because we respect and appreciate the integrity and reputation of Wilton Park as a venue for honest, qualified, high-level discussion. But it is also because we know that that is what we need here, in our region. We need candid, capable, reasoned discussion in the region, and if you don’t mind my being candid, right at the outset, we need that kind of discussion about the region. That is what we hope these next three days will bring.

Here, in Yerevan, one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited cities, we have seen the world evolve and change. We have seen empires near and far, come and go. We have seen economic and political systems evolve, peak and wane.

We have been the passive recipients of observations about us by individual travelers and policy makers. We also have clear, deep-seated opinions of each other. Armenians of Georgians, Azerbaijanis of Armenians, Georgians of Azerbaijanis, and so on. There is no doubt that our large neighbors, Iran, Turkey and Russia have clear memories, positions and expectations of each of us. We do not, however, have the opportunity to size each other up and honestly or candidly reflect on these positions. Yet this is especially important in the context of the new expectations of the 21st century – when our individual relations with multilateral institutions and the implications of those on our own bilateral and regional cooperation is great.

Of course, the Europeans and the Americans also have their own way of looking at the Caucasus. The American Zbigniew Brzezinski had said that the Caucasus is the pivot about which everything sways –economic interests, territorial interests and religious interests – and that these are all factors in the oscillating local politics.

The West looked at the Caucasus differently in the 19th century. Then, it was the meeting place of three empire. In the 20th century, the line that divided the world between us and them ran through the Caucasus. Now, in the 21st century, I ran across a new book by a Briton, called “the Caucasus -- the land between Christianity and Islam.”

The Western press also thinks of this region as the home of nationalism, self-determination, conflicts and oil.

Funny as it sounds, this region is really an almost accidental region, or region by default. It, in many ways, does not see itself as a region, and doesn't act as one. The "West" remembers it as a geographically exotic region, and not necessarily a politically or economically coherent region. In the new evolving relations between the West and Russia, this region becomes either the tail end of the Eurasian FSU space, or the tail end of the new Black Sea space.

But more than that – this is the place where nation-building is being seriously tried for the first time in the 21st century. We didn’t have that experience in the 20th – unlike the Baltics or Eastern Europe. We are doing it with the benefit of the lessons of the West, but without the benefit of the freedom or the time to make mistakes.

In our discussions, let’s ask what has independence meant for the countries in the region? To what extent have they been able to develop their own sustainable political and economic systems in the past 15 years? How do the countries themselves see their evolution? Is the Caucasus seen as a region, by the countries themselves and by others? To what extent has the Caucasus become a part of the European neighborhood? How can regional cooperation and integration be furthered?
What are the security challenges from within and without? What are the prospects for resolving the conflicts in the region? As an area with a rich history and cultural and religious diversity, what future patterns, trends and relations are likely? How can the strategic location best be utilized – with ties to Europe, the Middle east and the Caspian/Central Asia?

So, the Caucasus is not just about conflicts. It's an area that has serious political and strategic implications for global developments. Its ability to become a true region will be consequential for these developments.

This is the general context within which I hope we will talk about ourselves and our region. I want to welcome you all and thank you for coming.